Project Stealthlow

[waynio]

From my own experience WD40 is rubbish for drilling and taping, go and get yourself a tin of special grease (usualy about 10quid for a massive tin which will last for aaages ).
Tin is white with bright orange stripe somewhere. Can check it tomorrow if you want.

Does the job fine for me qbazdz & is also excellent for getting marker off the metal .

A bit that I think every diy modder fears getting wrong when making the mobo mounts is done & correct so with me not being a drinker or anything I'll post a load of pics instead lol .

So, I put the case on it's side with the io shield in.

Took my last pc & placed it in the case.

Held it up enough to have the io bits fit inside the shield & drawn along the edge & with the edge being drawn I could remove the io shield.

Then line the board up to the line & poke a marker through to get the exact mounting positions, then spot drilled, then drilled, then tried tapping but the tap fell straight through , so I either used the wrong drill bit or drilled it badly so I went back to the trusty brass inserts & made the hole 4mm & whacked them in .

Then put the standoffs in.

Tadaaa & wooooo hooooooo .

Now all I need to do is drill & file the expansion slots in the mobo panel.

Also I pre-drilled the positions for the fan mount bars.

 

[qbazdz]

Would it not be simply easier to mark where the mobo goes, and then match the i/o panel to it not the other way around ?

 

[King Damager]

Look at the dust on that heatsink!

kd

 

[EniGmA1981]

LOL with the ammount of skin that's probably in the dust on that heatsink, you could clone another person... Imagine how quick the build would come along with two wanios

 

[waynio]

Would it not be simply easier to mark where the mobo goes, and then match the i/o panel to it not the other way around ?

LOL it's on & correct & it was an easy method .

Look at the dust on that heatsink!

kd

LOL yeah it missed the every 2 month schedule of an air blast out because of sandybridge in mind .

LOL with the ammount of skin that's probably in the dust on that heatsink, you could clone another person... Imagine how quick the build would come along with two wanios

Hehe awesome comment a week or 2 .

 

[GJS1]

It's looking awesome

 

[MCMLX]

All I can say is WOW!!.
I am rubbish at any diy.I must say,the attention to detail is immense.
Awesome build.

 

[domthecondom]

this case reminds of of a special Lian Li Case

always admired people working on cases from scratch

 

[waynio]

It's looking awesome

All I can say is WOW!!.
I am rubbish at any diy.I must say,the attention to detail is immense.
Awesome build.

this case reminds of of a special Lian Li Case

always admired people working on cases from scratch

Cheers guys , just got the countersink & counterbore bits but the counterbore wasn't what I was expecting (the pilot was the size I needed but the cutting bit was way too big so that won't be used & the countersink bit is garbage & might need to remake the back panel the sink it made is nowhere near as smooth as the ones I did with my other bit so need to get same type of countersink as my last which means sometime next week before more progress just hope I can get away with not needing to do a new back panel.

 

[waynio]

Was going to leave the project alone for a few days after finding my new countersink bit was crap & knew I needed a new one, ordered the same type as my last & decided to do the slots for the expansion cards on the mobo tray.

I also have a solution for the badly done countersinks on the back, not massively ideal but it'll work .

The upside down hdd cage, but since found a source for left angle sata cables but I'll just have to hope that 600mm is long enough, should be .

Marked, drilled & started using a manual fretsaw to make the expansion slots.

Just needs filing.

Filed & brushed both sides of the mobo panel as it was looking pretty shabby & put back in the case.

 

[Gundog48]

Motherboard tray looks 1000 times better, that brushing sure does a good job, was wondering what you were going to do about them marks. And once it is powdercoated/ anodized it's going to look amazing!

 

[waynio]

Motherboard tray looks 1000 times better, that brushing sure does a good job, was wondering what you were going to do about them marks. And once it is powdercoated/ anodized it's going to look amazing!

Cheers Gundog48 I would seriously love to get all this anodised but it's doubtful after I whacked those brass thread inserts into the mobo tray oh well if I can find a clear primer I can always use candy paint to keep the brush look , just got to find the right clear primer.

To fix the rear io piece bad countersinks I ordered these black anodised countersunk washers, problem is I might have to do all the rear bolts with these so it all looks uniform, d'oh .

 

[EniGmA1981]

Sounds like fun... Don't ya wish you'd used them in the first place? (or not bought a crap countersink bit)

 

[waynio]

Sounds like fun... Don't ya wish you'd used them in the first place? (or not bought a crap countersink bit)

I've seen other modders use the same type of countersink bit but they got an ok result from it, really should have tested it out on some scrap before putting it to the case, d'oh but not to worry it's fixable, just requires a little more work .

 

[waynio]

Had a real lazy day & just tested the pci expansion cards line up correct & phew they do .

Now just need to make some kind of easy maintenance clamping piece for holding cards in place.

 

[waynio]

Here is my first idea for holding the expansion cards in place, it would be made from solid aluminium bar with brass inserts that are screwed in from the rear panel, a hefty amount of filing again though lol but the theory works for me & might even look ok .

 

[waynio]

LOL Tried that clamping block idea but couldn't seem to get the needed pressure on it while clamping, kind of a 3 or 4 handed job so then I tried using 6mm flat bars a piece above & below the expansion slots with a theaded insert in the ends which I have to admit is doable but might not look so good & it would still require a fiddly install which goes against the ease of use, so I ordered a lian-li part hehe, one of those toolless pci clamp things but thats just going in the spares box now but I might study it & make my own some time .

The reason I didn't want to add the usual threaded holes is a 5 stack of alu wasn't the original plan so there could be issues with expanding & loss of form, maybe it would be possible to drill & tap it if held in a vice but I'm not sure it's a good idea.

I'd heartily recomend not making your own pci/io piece based on a standard one after this lol, at least I know this for sure now :hehe: but then again this was my first time, making something fairly complex & the first time is always a bit of a nightmare when you only have a rough idea of what to do so if you do have a go at making your own be prepared for muckups .

Anyway I thought why the heck not just have a try at holding firm in the vice with a clamp, drilling, tapping, helicoils, now things didn't go correct with the pci/io mobo standoffs, I'd say I'm about 2mm away from where it should be but it all still works as it should so everythings ok .

Nice technical markings ready & spot drilled lol .

Tapping

Helicoils in & done .

Ohhhhhh Shheeeeeeet but will be fixed up when I get around to doing the body filling .

Works awesome but yeah some body filler work to get this piece spot on .

And this shot shows how it's probably 2mm away from where it should be, oh well at least it all works as it should .

 

[waynio]

Got all the fan mount bars to the same sizes & made the notches so they are all the same & match up correct, spot drilled the mounting end, drilled, tapped, helicoiled. tried out, just need to add the fan mounting holes & countersinks as I intend to use regular black fan screws but still waiting for the countersink bit.

I'll get the mounting holes ready for when the countersink bit gets here.

 

[EniGmA1981]

Nice

Looks like the airflow through there will be pretty clean and unhindered - should get some great temps on the go there

Planning on any exhaust above the I/O panel?

 

[waynio]

Nice

Looks like the airflow through there will be pretty clean and unhindered - should get some great temps on the go there

Planning on any exhaust above the I/O panel?

Thanks mate I tried out the enermax tb fans the other day & they move much more air than I was expecting & they are very quiet, not silent but it will be heaps quieter than the air cube with the akasa apaches.

Yep still need to cut out bits on the back panel but I'm leaving it until everything is ready to be cut so I can get it all done at once so I only have to take it apart for the cuts & then for the finishing, same goes for the 2nd levels psu vent & cable passes.

The drilling which should have been simple went wrong so I've body filled the holes & I'll smooth it off so it's a perfect blend, then paint the fan bars & use scotch mounting tape for the fans, really wanted to avoid stuff like body filler on this but if I can hide the hiccup really well I won't mind since it was quite a mission making the fan bars .